evaluation of pain alleviating strategies during allergy shots

Conditions: Immunotherapy; Allergy

Summary: subcutaneous immunotherapy (allergy injections) is a potentially disease-modifying therapy that is effective for the treatment of allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis, allergic asthma and stinging insect hypersensitivity. pain, which results from the irritation of nearby nerves is a common concern of patients, particularly in children, during or after the injections. this can be a stressful and negative experience for the children. there are various techniques available to minimize pain in general. however, there is a lack of published research on how to use these techniques in children receiving allergy injections. the purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the efficacy of the standard of care method (ethyl chloride/pain ease spray) and three non-pharmacological pain control devices (buzzy bee® i, buzzy bee ii and shot blocke®r) in decreasing the perception of pain during subcutaneous allergy injection in a pediatric allergy/immunology clinic setting.

this is a randomized controlled study. approximately 100 children, age 4 - 17 years, who are currently receiving subcutaneous immunotherapy, will randomly select a blinded envelope which assigns the distraction technique to be utilized during their study participation. there will be 25 envelopes assigned to each study group for a total of 100 envelopes. each envelope will contain a paper with a colored sticker for the associated group assignment and number sequence. the distribution of group assignment by number sequence and color is as follows: interventional groups 1. shot blocker® number 1-25 (red) 2. buzzy i® (vibrating only) number 26-50 (green) 3. buzzy ii® (vibrating and ice wings) number 51-75 (blue) control group 4. ethyl chloride/pain ease spray number 76-100 (yellow) the three interventional groups are currently marketed distraction devices. the control group is the current clinical standard of care option for pre-allergy injection application. the study consists of two visits. both visits will be conducted during the participants routine clinic visit for allergy injections. at the first visit the investigator will assess eligibility. an overview of the study requirements will be provided to parent/child and consent/assent will be obtained. during the second visit, the child will be randomized to a distraction technique or standard of care group to be utilized with the allergy injection(s) administered at this visit. adherence with institutional allergy injection guidelines will be maintained. prior to the application of the distraction method, the investigator will interview the parent to collect data related to demographic information and their child's current allergy health and treatment regime. the child's pain perception will be assessed before and after the allergy injection. the parent's perception of their child's pain will be assessed after the allergy injection. the investigator will provide information on the application of the randomized method and will provide instruction on the completion of the pain scales and questionnaires. the investigator and study staff will not indicate a method preference or guide the child or parent with their pain level responses. after completion of the second visit, the child's study participation is complete.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * children aged 4-17 years on injection immunotherapy * a minimum of three allergy injection injections prior to enrollment at visit 1 * child accompanied by parent or legal guardian exclusion criteria: * children with a known pain or sensory disorders * developmental delays lacking necessary cognitive ability * administration of any form of pain analgesic within eight hours of randomization at visit 2